>>The point is, the minstrel tradition is the only context in which most people in this country have seen anybody blacked up for entertainment purposes<< The point is that most people in this country have never seen "the minstrel tradition". I would bet my mortgage that any survey of the general awareness of the population of "minstrelsy" would show as near to a nil response as to be negligible; then survey the general awareness of minstrelsy in relation to morris dancing and there would be only a handful of people - from this thread probably - who would have even the slightest clue. Some of you are so right-on that you are seeking to create an issue that has no real substance - except in your own minds.
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